Railway-frog



(No Model.)

D. F. VAUGHAN. RAILWAY FROG.

No. 474,200. Patented May 3, 1-892.

ATENT FFICEQ DAVID F. VAUGHAN, OF HADDONFIELD, NE\V JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- I-IALF TO MCLEOD WV. THOMSON, OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,200, dated May 3, 1892.

Application filed October 7, 1891. Serial No. 408,013. (No model.)

To all whom, it mayconcern: spring-rail is used for wheel travel and is not Be it known that I, DAVID F. VAUGHAN, a therefore liable to become displaced, and at citizen of the United States of America, residthe same time the smooth ridingand wearing ing at Haddonfield, in the county of Camden qualities of a spring-frog are secured without 55 and State of New Jersey, have invented cerliability of derailment to a train. If through tain new and useful Improvements in Railany cause the spring-rail should become disway-Frogs; and I dohereby declare the followplaced, the gap or channel between the rigid ing to be a full,elear, and exact description of point and wing-rails of the frog-body is not theinvention,such as will enable others skilled of sufficient width or extent to cause trouble'oo IO in the art to which it appertains to make and and no derailment would follow, the parts heuse the same. ing so proportioned and arranged as to leave My invention relates to improvements in only sufficient passage for wheel-flanges. railway-track frogs of that class known to The invention further consistsin the novel those skilled in the art as spring-rail frogs, combination, construction, and arrangement 65 x 5 which will be hereinafter fully described and of parts, which will be fully pointed out herepointed out. inafter.

The object of the present improvement is The accompanying drawings illustrate my to combine in a practical and substantial invention, in which form the safety of an ordinary stiff frog with Figure 1 is a plan view; Fig. 2, a vertical 7o the wearing and smooth-riding qualities of a cross-section through the frog close to the spring-frog without the attendant danger of point thereof on the plane indicated by the derailment, which is liable to occur with a dotted lines 00 m of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3is a verspring-frog. tical cross-section on theline y y of Fig. 1.

In the ordinary spring-rail frog the spring- Like letters of reference denote eorrespond- 75 rail is so arranged that the greater-part thereing parts in the several figures of the drawof is utilized as apart of the main-track rail, ings. and as this spring-rail is necessarily movable A designates the main-track rail. B is the to permit the wheels to pass to and from the body of the frog consisting of the two-point siding it sometimes occurs that said springrails b b. 80 o rail is displaced by passing wheels riding on O is a fixed wing-rail, and D is the springthe main-track rails, causing derailment of rail, which is arranged and secured outside of the train with disastrous results. the body of the frog and out of the line of To overcome these objections and attain wheel travel on both the main track and sidthe ends of my invention, I fasten the point ing, except at its inner end, which fits in the 85 3 5 and wing rails of the frog rigidly in place on way between the frog-point and the end of the ties similar to the ordinary stiff frog and the main-line railA. As is usual in stiff frogs, cutoff a part of one of the wing-rails a short the point-rail b is arranged in line with the distance in advance of the frog-point in a @main-track rail A, and the other point-rail Z) manner to form a channel or way for the passis inclined at an angle, so as to form a contin- 9o ing of the wheel-flanges in going over the frog nation of the wing-rail O, the meeting ends of to or from the side track, and to close this the rails b 12' forming a frog-point of any apchannel or way and make the main track conproved pattern. The wing-rail O is bent or tinuous I combine with the stiif frog a springdeflected alongside of the main-track rail, the rail which is fixed or secured at one end outspring-rail, and the point B, so as to form a 95 side of the body of the frog and has its inner guard-rail at the point of the frog, as is usual.

end curved to fit into the channel or way so One of the important parts of my improvethat the same is closed, and said end of the ment consists in securing all the rails, except spring-rail is capable of use for wheel travel the spring-rail, fixedly in place on the ties, over the main-track rails. This construction which can be effected in any suit-able way, I00 of railway-frog possesses the safety of the orafter the manner of securing the legs of'a dinary stiff frog, as a very small part of the stiff frog, and in the drawings I have shown the filling-block d between the main track and point-rails at the point of the frog,asin1- ilar filling-block 6 between the point-rail b and the guard-rail of the wing-rail,andathird filling-block 6' between the two-point railsb Z), the rails and filling-blocks beingsuitably secured by transverse bolts.

Instead of extending the end of the maintrack rail to and beyond the point of the frog, as is usual in spring-rail frogs, I cut the end of said rail off so that it terminates in advance of the point, and the end of said rail A is inclined or deflected, as at a, and the inner side of said deflected end is beveled 0r inclined, the rail A being arranged in such juxtaposition to the point as to leave a channel or way E between the terminal of rail A and the point for the passage of the flanges on the wheels when coming to or from the siding.

The spring-rail D is arranged and secured, except a small part of its inner end, wholly outside of the body of the frog and the line of wheel travel on the siding and main-track rails, and this rail D is inclined at such an angle to the point-rail b as to lap against the same for a considerable portion of its length, the inner end of said rail D being curved or bent at at, so as to fit in the channel or gap E and lie close to the outwardly-deflected end ct of rail A, the inner end of the spring-rail thus filling the gap or channel E and affording, practically, a continuous rail along A, d, and b of the frog for wheel travel. The springrail 'is held normally against the rails A Z)" to close the channel by means of the spring-rod F, which passes through the webs of the rails O D and a guide f, and on this rod is fitted a coiled tension-spring F, which bears against the rail 0 and a washerqinterposed between the other end-of the spring and the nuts 9.

As shown, the spring-rail D is secured rigidly in place at its outer end to a chair h or its equivalent, which lies in rear of the frogpoint; but although this arrangement is desirable, as it enables the spring-rail to lap the point-rail 6, yet I do not wish to strictly confine myself to this specific disposition of the spring-rail, as it can be reversed and secured in advance of the frog-point by bending the inner end of the spring-rail somewhat differently.

In operation the spring-rail is normally held against the rails A b, and its inner end presents a continuation of the rails A b for the continuous travel of wheels on the main track; but in crossing the frog, either in going onto the siding or coming from the same, the wheelflanges ride against the inner side of the spring-rail D and move the latter sufficiently to permit the wheel-flanges to pass between the spring-rail and the point-rail b, after which the springinstantly returns the springrail to its normal position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A railway-frog having the stiff pointrails, the stiff wing-rail, the main-track rail A, having its end terminating in advance of the frog-point and forming the channel or way between said frog-point and the end of the main-track rail, and a spring-rail secured at one end outside of the line of wheel travel and having its inner end curved and fitting in the channel or way between the rail A and the frog-point, substantially as described.

2. In a railway-frog, the'combination, with the stiff point-rails and the wing-rail, of the main-track rail having the deflected beveled inner end terminating in advance of the frogpoint and forming the channel or way between said point and rail, the spring-rail D, secured at one end outside of the line of wheel travel and having its inner end deflected or bent and fitting in the channel or way between the frog-point and main rail, and means to hold the spring-rail in position,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID F. VAUGHAN.

Witnesses:

P. E. TURNER, J E. SHIvERs. 

